Papanui Club Chat Snippets
2 Nov 2021
It was a busy period recently with both the Halloween event in partnership with Ray White Real Estate plus the finals of the speech competition at Heaton Intermediate. We have also completed the packing and sending of a container and another one is already in the wings.
Our annual raffle at Northlands Mall is also coming up fast so please remember to go to the link here to book some times over the coming weeks to help out. This is also a good opportunity to perhaps join a Club member you don’t run into as often and find out a bit more about them.
Some members also attended a training event last weekend and we look forward to them sharing what was covered as we go forward in what are becoming quite changeable times as we manage the ongoing challenges the current environment presents us with.
With the assistance of our Board, our District, our overseas roots and most importantly our members I feel that we can rise to these challenges by focussing on our core values of service, fellowship, diversity, integrity & leadership.
President Grant
Halloween Event with Papanui Rotary and Ray White Real Estate Papanui
For the third year Papanui Rotary partnered with Ray White Real Estate Papanui to bring some free, safe family fun for local children at St. James Park.
It was unexpectedly cold and rainy and knowing that we had had to work within the Covid Level 2 guidelines this year we had made it a contactless and very simple event. We were somewhat surprised to have about 150 people attend as the wind blew and the rain fell.
We advertised in the News Advertiser and on social media sites and included a QR code from where children could download a scavenger hunt sheet asking questions about the 10 large Halloween icon stations we had in the park.
The children once again came all “dressed to kill” in great Halloween outfits from sharks to spiderman, and witches to ghouls. When the sheets were completed, they handed them in and were able to pick up a bag of sweets from the sack as their reward.
As we were putting up the Halloween icons several parents came up to us to say how grateful they were that we were still holding this event as there was nothing for small children to do in the current Covid environment and they enjoyed dressing up for Halloween.
Comments like this make holding events worthwhile and our partnerships with other organisations are valuable tools to Rotary being visible in our communities even with restrictions. It made us think differently about how we can do things and work together.
Simon Forsyth, a professional photographer and member of Papanui Rotary, took some great photos of the children and once again we thank Ray White Real Estate for partnering with us.
Hopefully next year we can take it back to our large event where over 400+ attend and the weather is kind.
Speech Finals at Heaton Intermediate
On 28 October, the finals of the Papanui Rotary Speech Contest were held at Heaton Intermediate School. 16 students from 7 schools and in years 5-8 competed for the top prizes on the night. One week earlier, 50 students had taken part in the preliminary rounds to find the finalists.
Topics ranged from Animal extinction, Global Warming and Conspiracy theories, to Puppy Farms, Wearing glasses and the Perils of a Popstar. The judges had a very hard job finding the prize winners!
This year for the first time a special award was presented. Papanui Rotary had formerly run a secondary schools debating contest which has long been discontinued. A trophy given in memory of a former member of the Club was found in a garage where it had been stored since 1996.
Evan Thompson, a member of Papanui Rotary, beautifully restored the trophy and adapted it for use in the speech contest. Evan was there at the finals to present the trophy to its very first junior speech winner who gave a passionate and moving speech on Racism.
These young students spoke with enthusiasm and expertise and are clearly leaders of the future. As a Rotary Club, it was great to make the opportunity for them to practice the art of public speaking and develop their skills as well as to entertain their families, friends and Rotarians.
Food for Thought